The History and Evolution of Doom

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This history of the Doom franchise! Doom is one of those games that truly altered the landscape of the gaming industry. In this video I talk about the history and the evolution of the series from the inception of id Software to the most recent game in the franchise.
Starting with Wolfenstein 3D, and going through #DOOM, DOOM II, DOOM III, and DOOM 2016, this video covers all that and many games in-between with some of the background of John Romero and John Carmack sprinkled in.
Doom 2016 and Doom 3 are available on Steam. Console versions are also available from retailers. Doom II and Final Doom can be found on GoG.com.
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Kevin, the Chief Spoiler of Spoilers to Follow has been playing video games since he was little. And not just one kind, many kinds, which is why he's only "okay" at most genres. Regardless, on this channel he will post a variety of let's plays, reviews, and commentaries on both mainstream and obscure games: from a video on "Why is Undertale So Good?" and random Super Mario Maker levels to a Let's Play of "Party Hard."
Kevin is no stranger to steam early access games, like Darkest Dungeon, and has been known to create random challenges, like the XCOM X-Files Challenge! Look out for more content from Spoilers to Follow, as we grow and evolve.
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[@gethomel]

Doom 2016 was awesome. They did a really good job of making that game feel like the original Dooms 1 and 2. Hope they come with another Doom soon but this time take the battle to earth like Doom 2. Great video!

[@Arcadology]

Thanks so much! And I agree. It was a slice of the old remixed with the new.

[@korozive3687]

Your wish has been granted. DOOM "Eternal" is on its way.

[@mightyace3374]

Doom eternal will be on earth u got ur wish

[@IcyPinguin]

If only Visceral was acquired by Bethesda... They would have done Dead Space justice.

[@ZachGraber]

Another great video. I love when you dive into gaming history. Gaming has had such a huge impact on culture and storytelling and what you are doing goes so much deeper than a review or a lets play. You are not only showing people these games but telling them why they are important to society. Fantastic work Kevin!

[@Arcadology]

Thanks so much Zach!

[@lankey6969]

The Doom theme is the song of my soul. Black and charred as it beats pure evil in my hell loving heart.

[@Chris-gu3yd]

I like DOOM cause when i was 4, i had this old dell computer and i was bored and went through the internet and found the first doom game. The first doom game got me into gaming as a kid. My father and my siblings hate me ever since cause I found that game a long time ago. I then played DOOM 2016 and i was shocked on how gory the game was, it really brought back some old memories from when I was a kid. I played every DOOM game twice to find each easter egg.

[@____GoMeZ____]

I'm sure they'd speak highly of the new doom game. After all, it was actually really good!

[@Arcadology]

I want to say that Romero eventually said that he liked it but I can’t recall with certainty.

[@Mikey-ym6ok]

Still remember doom was my first firson shooter game

[@TrickyMcnickle]

Great video. Doom was my first PC game I bought, and the first game i ever played over a phone line with someone. I used to be obsessed with Doom and Doom II.

[@Arcadology]

+Mcnickle Nice! I never got online too much for Doom, but Quake was my jam.

[@IVCramer]

Amazing/well thought out. This brought back memories of playing around with the level editor as a kid and installing mods... and now that I'm writing this I realize that I probably learned about file structures, extensions, etc, all from D2...

[@Arcadology]

+IVCramer thanks so much for commenting! Glad I could bring back some fond memories. :)

[@CatsAgainstCommunism]

Wow dude, watching NYE 2018, I am shocked by the lack of support you get for the quality of video you put out. Keep at it please. Please!

[@Arcadology]

Thanks so much! If you feel game- consider sharing, that always helps!

[@vero0992]

Love Doom. Great video. I really enjoyed Doom 3

[@korozive3687]

One of the better videos I have viewed of the DOOM story. Well done!! Subscribed.

[@Arcadology]

Thank you!

[@Wildlander]

Love it kev. Plenty informative and the production quality is impeccable as always. Keep it up

[@Arcadology]

+Belmont Boy thank you so much man!

[@ElConquistadork]

Your best work yet--no question about it.

[@Arcadology]

Aww man thanks!

[@doomslayerboy3460]

Right

[@cameronwaltz6500]

Doom 2016 played it very safe and therefore succeeded. Now that they know why it succeeded I hope they take more risks. New enemies, new areas, and more violent design. That's my wish at least.

[@Akmenos6576]

Doom eternal

[@karlojanpa7535]

Nice job. Nothing new information wise (but i've dug deep and read Masters of Doom). I liked the comparison videos.

[@Arcadology]

Thanks! Yeah Masters of Doom pretty much covers most of this in great detail, which is why I plugged it :) Thanks for watching!

[@laudo_au2418]

Am I the only one that got the DOOM: Eternal trailer and thought "Fuck, I wonder if it's gonna be better than 2016"

[@chaser1254]

I love it that U showed original doom in its original resolution :)! Nice touch!

[@Kyleology]

Doom 4 was one of the best fan games I've ever played.

[@lewsmal9959]

shut up doom 4 shit

[@noahm.9091]

Doom 4 brings back the amazing run and gun of the first games, while adding in the perfect amount of modern tweaks like collectibles and upgrades It’s definitely better than Doom 3 too, that game was terrible, doom wasn’t supposed to be a horror game

[@TheRogueminator]

lol, Doom 4 is shit!?? You must be joking....

[@StarsAndSticks]

Cool video, thanks for uploading!!

[@AgentH53]

And there is also Doom 64, that takes place after Final Doom. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_64

[@dilldozar296]

Highly underrated doom too

[@vicvega861]

Feck yeah mate!! Great video!!

[@Arcadology]

+Terry Hesticles Thanks!

[@sethh6875]

Also, it killed me at about 10 minutes in when you ran right by the hidden room... :)

[@Arcadology]

+Seth H #sorrynotsorry hAha. Yeah I don't remember the maps quite as well. :)

[@leonardokrause1959]

Actually Romero left after Quake 1, but great video mate!

[@Arcadology]

+Leonardo Krause I thought I said that? Either way thanks for watching!

[@leonardokrause1959]

ohh, my bad, I missheard that hahaha, sorry

[@Phoenix-of9ne]

Doom is what an FPS should be, right into the action

[@MoshingtheJosh]

Loved this! Found it through Unsucky Sunday on Reddit btw ^__^

[@Arcadology]

+Josh Ayres Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it.

[@reap3r90]

Brother awoke work with the video! You got a new sub here :)

[@Arcadology]

Thank you!

[@BlackJar72]

Funny how many people like to claim you had to keep moving in the original Doom. Actually, things like sniping and cover (implicit in the level geometry) can be very effecting, and once you get the hang of it, it can be played effectively as a hunting game with demons as the prey. Of course, I'm sure that doesn't apply in PvP matches, since players are faster, more versatile, and far smarter than monsters.

[@Arcadology]

Yeah you definitely could play it like that. I think the PAR at the end of the levels suggest intended design is for speed but hey, who am I to tell someone how to enjoy a game? Thanks for commenting!

[@andersonmayorga5948]

Awsome video man. Very detailed I loved it and learned from it lol keep this up man you'll get alot of support from us the gaming community. Keep up the great work subscribed and turn notifications on lol

[@Arcadology]

Thank you so much! Working on my next batch of stuff including converting my latest podcast to video, a video on game design, and another history video.

[@terriblecertainity]

one thing many seem to forget is Doom64, which I would consider to be a missing link between Doom 2 and 3

[@FireCoreFantasies]

Amazing video dude! I grew up watching my older brother play doom and even played it a few times myself but I never knew any of the real history behind it! Haha Now that I think abouy it, i am pretty sure I still have the original floppy disk laying around somewhere .

[@Arcadology]

Thanks so much for the comment! Yeah, it had an interesting backstory for sure. That's cool about the discs! I wish I still had some of that stuff lying around. Check out my Civ video if you are interested in more gaming history! Thanks again!

[@brentogara]

Sandy Peterson created 19 Doom levels (finishing 8 started by Tom Hall) and 17 Doom II levels (along with 7 Quake levels), more than any other level designer. Far from being an 'also ran' alongside John Romero and American McGee as suggested by this video, Sandy Peterson is THE Doom and Doom II level designer. I agree with everything else, it's just wrong to deny Sandy Peterson's genius at game and level design.

[@Arcadology]

You are right, he did design more levels. Since I wrote this two years ago I’m not sure where the mistake was in the writing process, where I missed the number he designed compared to others. However, I was not trying to dismiss his contribution as an “also ran.” I’m sorry it came across that way.

[@calculateddeclination5534]

Doom 3 and doom 2016 are my favorites of the series.

[@Arcadology]

Nice! I'm still a fan of the original, something about its speed and simplicity hooks me, lol.

[@usquanigo]

Lost me at claiming elimination of reloads was in any conceivable way a good thing. It's one of the (many) things that makes Brutal Doom so awesome. It allows for greater suspension of disbelief, sucking you in more, and also ramping up tension - 1 more thing to keep track of, and possibly be caught out by. Really hope there is a mod out there to add it in, to make it as it should have been.

[@cheriftekouk7870]

a GREAT video about the GREATEST GAME liked it a lot

[@robertchrisco5217]

What inspired you to pick Doom as your first Origin series? There are a lot of options when coming to suggestions for other video games. How about MIST? How about Legend of Zelda development? I honestly couldn't begin to think all the games I've always wondered about. Thanks for a very well thought out and interesting review of Doom series. Keep those videos a coming.

[@Arcadology]

Thanks for the comment! I picked doom because a new addition to the series just came out this past month. :) But the other games are great suggestions! Thanks!

[@TheGigiparce0]

I love and own all of them! Each one of them have something unique and special to enjoy. The only bad Doom is the movie I would say…😂😂😂😂

[@OMP25]

All Doom's were great. Doom3 was a survival horror game and also give us more history and plot behind UAC, which shows they are like a satanic cult. In Doom2016 reinforce UAC cult which their personnal apllies to become demons.

[@stephenkeen6039]

Thanks, I enjoyed it,

[@Arcadology]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@JMsolidsnake]

there is a lot of history in video games. it can be argued that the first game was made in the 40's so video games have been around for about 80-90 years

[@Arcadology]

+Josh Melendez For my own purposes I use Spacewar as the reference point there. Now obviously you can go back a bit and include some previous attempts like Alan Turing trying to create a program that could play chess, and the Nimrod game. I plan on releasing a video game timeline video though that begins in the 1890s. Should be out in the next month or so.

[@SergioPL]

Very nice!! You forgot Doom 64.😰

[@Arcadology]

Skipped it intentionally since it was developed by Midway. A rule I held to with most of my earliest videos was to focus only on the core series. Since then I’ve branched our into talking about ports and the like (as in my RE2 video.) Thanks for commenting!

[@clint1666]

great video Kevin. i like Doom 3 but they shouldn't probably of even included it in the franchicse, it would have been more well received.

[@Arcadology]

+Clint Shaw Yeah with some slight changes it could have been a separate game. Thanks for commenting!

[@Lattamonsteri]

Clint Shaw doom 1 & 2 were very similar and i feel that at the time of doom 3's release a change in the tone was very welcome. there's a reason why doom 4 was originally going to turn out completely different. we are now living in the age where nostalgia sells and that's why (and I'm glad for the decision) id decided to return to the roots of the game. but one thing baffles me though. earlier interviews and press releases hail doom as a scary game but now we perceive it as fast action with popcorn horror. is this change in perspective only explained by graphical advances and the fact that the game is so old that people just learned to play it faster and in a different manner than was "originally planned"? all in all it's difficult to judge things objectively with such little online information about how the gaming scene was then but it's awesome to see such evolution in a franchise that still holds up after all these years :D

[@SumDumGai5]

Clint Shaw Terrible grammar.

[@Typanoid]

A lot of people found classic Doom scary because of the lighting, the idle growls of monsters alerted to your presence and the level design that meant that monsters could creep up behind you if you weren't careful. FPSs were a whole new genre back then - people weren't used to experiencing a '3d' world through the eyes of the player character. Add the, for the time, unusual violence and gore, and it made the game seem really frightening to some people. But the game was also fast and action-paced and frequently made you feel really powerful (the metal music definitely helped in this area).

[@FuzzyGhost]

7:47 "Id created a new IP for the first time since development of Quake, with Rage in 2011. The game was well received." Wait, what? I could be wrong, but I remember people being disappointed with its release. Was this just critics saying it was well done, or did I miss something?

[@Arcadology]

Hi there. I should have been more clear. Overall critical reception was positive but there is a pretty strong split between critical consensus and consumer ratings. Thanks for commenting!

[@nightmarezer0507]

4:55 that hearing was held a day before Doom was released. Unless there are more hearing I dont know about this is false.

[@Arcadology]

The hearing was in two parts: December 93 and March 94. I would have to check my. It’s for this specific reference though.

[@nightmarezer0507]

@@Arcadology Ah I see. I was going but Romero said in a panel. He didn't mention the other hearing. Just that he uploaded Doom the day after the NightTrap/Mortal Kombat hearing.

[@AndyMiller79]

bloody kool video man new subsriber

[@Arcadology]

Thanks so much!

[@frankrabbit2247]

My stomach churns whenever someone calls a "magazine" a "clip".

[@Arcadology]

I think Tums might help.

[@grimmarine6447]

why the fuck does nobody use sprint in the og dooms

[@TuxedoVaileGAMES]

I thought I was subscribed already, guess not. Sorry about that. Great presentation here. I personally loved DOOM 3, I would love it if there was a way to kind of combine the elements of DOOM 3 with elements from the new DOOM we got this year. I think it would be very enjoyable to play in a horror like environment with the fast pacing of being a bad ass. I mean Painkiller did something kind of like that but I think it under-performed compared to what I feel could be done.

[@Arcadology]

+Tuxedo Vaile thanks for commenting. I understand that yeah- I really dig the new DOOM though because I just love the blood thirsty fun. Reminds me of sneaking off to my neighbors house to play it haha. Also I just did a performance check, not that this has anything to do with anything. I'm running 140 fps with near max graphics!!

[@TuxedoVaileGAMES]

This new DOOM game really is awesome as it is, that's definitely true and that's awesome! :D Spoiler Kevin

[@Arcadology]

Hooray for awesome!

[@TuxedoVaileGAMES]

It feels so awesomely awesome to say the word awesome. Absolutely awesome! LOL XD

[@ThatOverkillGuy]

Hey was wondering if you wanna do a collaboration.

[@Arcadology]

Hey there! If you can shoot me an email (it's in the about section of my channel), let me know what you're thinking about doing!

[@branimirstankovic302]

DOOM 4 IS REALLY SHINNY !

[@dancarchidi3071]

I love Doom. And this was an AMAZING game. However, to say that this is a “reboot” or to suggest that the story is lacking or easily ignored, is a complete falsehood.

[@Arcadology]

Why would it not be a reboot? It restarted the series after years of dormancy. Also I don’t believe I suggested it to be lacking. Just that your ability to not pay attention to it if you didn’t want to acknowledges the original Doom’s simplified story.

[@dancarchidi3071]

Arcadology all lore in Doom (2016) is taken directly from the past installments of series. This, if anything, would be a directly sequel to Doom 2. It does not ignore the lore from Doom 3, rather implies that the Marine from that game is not the Doom Marine known to be the “Doom Slayer” who would be the character you play as in both Doom and Doom 2. Setting Doom 3 to be in the same universe as the 4 other main titles but on a different story arc. Now if I misinterpreted your meaning about the plot, for that I will apologize. It sounded as though you meant to say that this games story was passed over to make it more action based, and that the story/lore was a mere after thought

[@Arcadology]

Yup. Only meant that the story could be ignored in the same way the Doom Slayer doesn’t seem to care too much his motivations. As far as the lore, sure I agree that the previous games were mined, but I doubt they are making any serious effort to maintain canon or continuity simply because they wouldn’t want to be painted into the corner. This gets into whether author intent really matters when you get into actual canon vs head canon. And if you want to view it as a sequel, I think that’s perfectly cool too. My reading of it though was they just wanted a fresh start that felt similar.

[@heavenlyshifted6088]

Doom 64?

[@Arcadology]

Hey there! I mentioned this in another comment, but Doom 64 wasn't made by Id, so I skipped it. When I first started the series of looking at games I was focused only on the games the core company made. That being said, were I to remake this video I would 100% add Doom 64. Thanks for commenting.

[@psegs21]

You sound so similar to VEGA lol

[@RamblyBear]

50 years isn't much history?

[@Arcadology]

Not really, and some don’t consider anything within 50 years of observation historic. Though that’s up for debate. Others say the significance of an event drives whether it’s able to be discussed from a historical perspective.

[@bananagun1807]

Not 2016 Doom 4

[@Arcadology]

It’s not typically referred to as Doom 4.

[@noobguy9973]

ım sorry but WTF is that DOOM 2016 gameplay you say game is fast allows double jump etc and the player just moves like a turtle and not even trying to dodge the fireballs and you got gameplay from only the first 3 missions out of 13 which is kinda bad cause it doesn't allow us to see Baron of Hell,Mancubus,Cacoedemon etc

[@Arcadology]

Sweet Jesus.

[@DM_2145]

the thing that still bothers me about DOOM is their female species trust me its not something your mortal eyes would wanna see

[@Rezinstance]

The only thing worse than Doom 3, watching Doom 2016 footage that was played with a controller.......

[@Arcadology]

Cool.

[@SumDumGai5]

Rez Instance Fuck you.

[@federicovesentini3719]

Rez Instance even worse: to read the same Doom 3 haters bullshits over and over again